


Midnight Coffee

by eiyuuhero, thearchangelofloki



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: High School AU, M/M, More tags to be added, barista!Freed, coffee shop AU, flirting gays, gay trash
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-02
Updated: 2016-01-15
Packaged: 2018-05-11 05:06:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5614978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eiyuuhero/pseuds/eiyuuhero, https://archiveofourown.org/users/thearchangelofloki/pseuds/thearchangelofloki
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Things get awkward when Freed Justine encounters a familiar face on campus. Even more so when the person attached to the face just won’t leave him alone. It was like he had too much caffeine. Although, you can say that was mainly Freed’s fault…</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. First Encounters

Freed tied his long green hair into a high ponytail before donning his red apron, standard issue for workers at Storm Brew Cafe. Freed grunted in frustration as his non existent skill for tying his apron resurfaced, his long fingers fumbling with the strings at the back. After a good ten minutes he gave up, calling for his friend yet again to come rescue him.

His friend, Bickslow, sauntered over, chuckling as he came up behind his friend.

“Really Freed? I thought they taught you how to tie knots back in preschool, baby.” He said in between chuckles, making quick work of the tie, ensuring it wouldn’t come undone again for the rest of the shift.

Freed glared.

Bickslow laughed harder.

Just then, a tinkling echoed through the empty shop as their first customer arrived. Freed rushed out from the kitchens to throw himself behind the counter, plastering a fake smile on his face. The customer walked right up to the bar and said, “One black coffee, please.”

Freed, who normally tried to speak as little as possible, nodded curtly, and turned to make the coffee as quickly as possible. Halfway through, the customer spoke.

“Y’know, I’ve got a real good view of your ass from here.”

Thankful he couldn’t see his face, Freed ducked his head even lower and stammered out a reply.

“T-thanks, um…” Freed, this is why you don’t talk to people when it’s unnecessary.

The tall stranger laughed, a low rumble that brought a blush to the greenette’s cheeks. “Well, you’re quite the shy one aren’t you?”

“I-I-, um,” the greenette blushed further, if it wasn’t for his hair he was certain that even the blonde he was serving would be able to see his blush reach the tips of his ears. _Deep breaths Freed, you got this. Just one sentence. That’s all you have to say._

“I’m not, I just-” that was as far as the greenette got before his rather loud boisterous friend and coworker emerged from the kitchen, yelling about his babies until Freed fixed him a pointed look and motioned behind him. Bickslow followed the motion until his eyes met those of the blonde man (who was totally, very obviously checking out his friend’s back), his mouth dropped into an ‘o’, before hurriedly turning back to Freed with a grin on his face.

“Freed.”

“Yes, Bickslow?” The green haired man ground out, focusing way too intensely on the coffee slowly dripping from the machine in front of him.

“That blonde guy is totally checking you out.”

“Really? I hadn’t noticed.”

“Freed.”

A sigh. “Yes?”

“The blush you’re sporting says otherwise.”

The blush became more intense. Bickslow didn’t think that was possible.

“Freed.”

The greenette turned, grabbing one of the coffee lids that were next to Bickslow with more force than necessary. “What.”

“Seriously, that guy totally wants to see you naked.”

Freed almost dropped the coffee.

Bickslow laughed. “Aww come on baby, you know I’m just messin’ with you.” Bickslow looked behind him, before leaning over to whisper in Freed’s ear. “Although, if he stares any harder at your ass he might just end up in it.” Bickslow chuckled, before retreating back into the kitchen, lest Freed throw the coffee at him.

Once the coffee was done, he turned back to the blonde customer and slid the cup towards him. He hesitated, debating whether to look him in the face or to save further embarrassment. As usual, the irrational part of his brain shouted the former. Freed looked up at the customer’s face and looked him in the eyes, immediately regretting his decision.

The stranger’s eyes were like stormy whirlpools, sparkling with amusement and glowing with something else Freed couldn’t quite discern. All he knew was that from the moment their eyes met, Freed was fucked. Utterly and completely fucked. The soft yellow morning light flooding in from the windows mingled with the bright white light from the cafe’s interior, reflecting off his irises in a way that captured Freed’s heart and sent it into a fluttering frenzy. Freed found himself unable to form words, his mouth going as dry as the stale bread they kept in the back.

He was snapped out of his reverie by a deep chuckle coming from the boy in front of him. The blonde was looking right at him, right into his own eyes, and the chuckling was not helping to ease Freed’s blush.

“Hey, Ponytail, I asked how much for the coffee.”

Freed swallowed with great difficulty, and tore his eyes away from the stranger’s, a large part of his brain sighing with relief, the rest moaning, wanting to stare for all eternity and more. He tapped a few times onto the register. “Um.. t-that’ll be.. uh- $3.50.”

“And how much for your number?”

Freed barely registered the comment when his lips moved on their own. “Free.”

It was Laxus’ turn to blush. He’d never thought that the green haired server would be so down for his number. Coffee boy blushed a deep red, contrasting and complimenting his green hair at the same time. “I- sorry, I just-”

Laxus hushed him, pulling a pen from seemingly nowhere and looking back at this adorably flustered boy. Laxus raised an eyebrow. “May I have my receipt?” he asked mischievously, sliding a five dollar bill onto the countertop. Freed picked up the money and stuffed it into the register, fumbling fingers trying to get the correct amount of change out. He plucked the receipt from the dispenser and placed both the money and the paper on the counter.

Their hands brushed briefly when the customer took the money and slid it into his wallet. Uncapping the pen with his teeth (which, though he’d never admit it, turned Freed on more than anything) and scrawled some digits on the blank side. When finished, he folded it and tucked it into Freed’s apron pocket, only now reading the name tag pinned to the soft fabric. Freed held his breath, hoping that the blonde couldn’t feel his pounding heart through the suddenly too-thin layers.

“Freed, huh?” The blonde said as he looked back up to the green haired boy’s face, his lips curling around the name like he was seeing how the syllables rested on his tongue, the blonde’s eyes scanning his features before finally coming to rest upon the greenette’s own, before the stranger’s lips turned up into a smirk.

“You better be on shift tomorrow, Bright Eyes.”

And with that, the mysterious (and hot) stranger took a sip from his coffee, winked at Freed, and walked out of the cafe with a grin on his face.

And if Freed wished for tomorrow to come just that little bit faster, well, no one else had to know but him.


	2. We Meet Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Laxus flirts. Freed blushes.
> 
> It's business as usual really.

As soon as the alarm went off, Freed slammed the palm of his hand on snooze. He checked the time. 7:05. He let out a groan, and closed his eyes again, trying to piece together the dream he was having. All he could grasp was that it was wonderful, and he didn’t want to wake up just yet. Except it was work today, and he had to get to the cafe by 8:00 so they could open at quarter past.

 

After disentangling his long hair from his earbuds (he’d fallen asleep listening to music), Freed rose and grabbed a random shirt and jeans from his drawers. He brushed out his hair and pulled it back in his regular style and headed to the kitchen quietly, trying not to wake his mum, who would no doubt still be sleeping. She took night shifts at the local retirement home, and so slept until one in the afternoon, usually. After sticking some bread in the toaster, he poured some apple juice and checked his phone. 

 

_ [1 New Message from: Unknown Number] _

 

Now, normally, Freed would have ignored the message and blocked the number, forgetting that it ever happened five minutes later. And he would have done the same today, if it wasn’t for the message itself, which brought a smile to his lips.

 

_ <Unknown Number> Mornin coffee boy ;) _

 

Freed blushed at the choice of emoji as he unlocked his device, tapping a reply as the toast popped up. 

 

_ <Me> morning… u will be having the same as yesterday i assume? :) _

 

Freed plucked the toast out and spread peanut butter over it and plating it, taking both his juice and toast to the kitchen counter, where he sat on a bar stool waiting for a reply.

 

_ <Unknown Number> Hmm…. i think itll have to be 2 coffees actually if u get me ;) _

 

He bit his lip and downed most of his juice, keeping an eye on the clock on the wall.

 

_ <Me> we open at 0830… _

 

_ <Unknown Number> Ill be there at 0825 then ;D ive got a winning pick up line i want 2 try on u ;) _

 

_ What is it with this guy and winky faces?  _ Freed thought as he took a bite of toast.

 

_ <Me> u better hope the boss doesnt catch us then _

 

_ <Me> i gotta get ready now _

 

Freed texted this as he shoved the rest of his toast into his mouth.

 

_ <Unknown Number> Aww send me snaps >;) _

 

He nearly choked on his breakfast as he read, swallowing with great difficulty as he replied:

 

_ <Me> ur quite a forward 1 arent u? :) _

 

_ <Unknown Number> is that a yes? :O _

 

_ <Me> NO!  _

 

Amidst chuckled Freed realised that although the chatting was easy and flowing, he didn’t actually know this guy’s name.

 

_ <Me> wat should i call u? :) _

 

_ <Unknown> Hot chocolate x _

 

Freed sprayed apple juice all over his screen with that one, wiping the glass dry and tapping his message, praying he hadn’t woken up his mum.

 

_ <Me> NO WAY! a name would suffice _

 

_ <Unknown Number> no fair :( ill tell u my name and all the honorifics when we meet, 4 now call me... sexy stranger ;) _

 

Freed laughed, giving in more easily than he would have, switching on to Contacts and tapping ‘Create New’.

 

_ <Me> done :) _

 

_ <Sexy Stranger> and u said i was the forward one ^_^ _

 

_ <Me> shut up :P _

 

Freed hesitated, his finger hovering over the ‘Send’ button, considering whether to put ‘x’ at the or not. He went for the latter, shoving in a random smiley and sprinting to the bathroom, where he brushed his teeth and washed his face. Catching himself in the mirror on the way out and looking himself up and down, he ran back to his room and threw on a nicer looking shirt, and fastened a ‘good luck’ bracelet he got from Bickslow for his birthday around his left wrist, because why not? Freed smiled to himself as he played with the little green pendant dangling from the leather strap. Maybe he’d like a bit of luck today.

 

The greenette threw on a jacket, grabbed his keys and wallet, slid his phone into his jacket pocket and practically burst out the door.

 

It was 8:15 when Freed managed to finally open the cafe, the main reason for the delay being that he was well...distracted...for lack of a better word. He was going to blame it on lack of sleep, and definitely not his need to check out the window every couple of minutes to see if the attractive blonde from yesterday was there. 

 

Lack of sleep. That’s totally what it was.

 

Just as he was finishing off the two coffees he hoped wouldn’t be going to waste that morning, the door tinkled to let Freed know that someone had entered the Cafe. He looked up to see who it was.

 

Only to immediately look back down to conceal his blush because of the smirking blonde walking towards him.

 

He managed to look up again, blush still painted high on his cheeks, when the blonde stopped in front of the counter and went to lean on it, smirk still present on his lips.

 

The blonde leaned in closer to Freed, beckoning the greenette to lean over as well with a motion of his finger, before whispering in his ear, “Are you a general? Because my privates are standing to attention.”

 

Freed blinked. Then blushed harder. 

 

The blonde just laughed as Freed thrust one of the coffees he had made at his chest, grabbing his own before making his way around the front, going to sit in on of the many tables located in the cafe, the blonde following diligently behind him.

 

They sat in silence for a moment, each of them quietly sipping on their coffees, Freed running his next words over in his head before putting his coffee down and looking at the blonde seated opposite him.

 

“So, do I get a name? Or do you seriously want me to call you ‘hot chocolate’?”  _ Definitely got the ‘hot’ part right. _

 

The blonde choked a little on his coffee, before laughing and sitting it down, a small blush appearing on his cheeks.

 

“Laxus. You can call me Laxus,” the blonde,  _ Laxus _ , Freed had to remind himself, leaned back on his chair, a smirk yet again finding itself on his face, “You better remember it too, there’s gonna come a time when you’ll be screaming it.”

 

Freed swore that the blush he’d been sporting had made it’s way up to his ears by now.

 

“I-Um, uh...” Freed gave up on replying, quickly raising his coffee back to his lips, Laxus mirroring his movements before he spoke up again.

 

“Ya know Coffee Boy,” he said, taking a sip of his coffee, looking Freed in the eyes as Laxus got his attention, “you’re pretty cute when you’re flustered.”

 

Freed wondered how the blood vessels on his face hadn’t burst.

 

It was probably for the best that Bickslow chose that moment to come bursting through the kitchen doors, clearly having just arrived.

 

“BABY, I’M HOME, I’VE RETU-Am I interrupting something?”

 

Laxus raised an eyebrow. “Baby?” He glanced at Freed. “You cheating on me already?” He clicked his tongue.

 

Freed shot one of his famous death glares at his tall friend and tried to compose himself into speaking an actual sentence. “No, it’s - uh - just his thing he does, does it with everyone-”

 

“So… it’s like a kink?”

 

Freed blushed about three different shades of scarlet. Laxus burst out laughing. “It’s alright, maybe we’ll find some together.”

 

Freed was pretty sure the thud from his head hitting the table could’ve been heard from Mars.

 

Suddenly a hand was slapped across his back. “Freed baby, my babies are in the oven, and the boss is gonna be here pretty soon, so maybe we should get ready….Unless you want him to see you flirting with your boyfriend?”

 

Freed’s head shot up at that, looking Laxus apologetically in the eye, before moving to get up, taking both his and Laxus’ empty cups and throwing them in the bin by the counter.

 

“I-I’d stay and talk longer if I could, but-”

“Nah, you gotta work. I get it. Might swing by later though. I like watching you make coffee, Bright Eyes.”

 

Bickslow grinned from his place near the table the other two were sitting at, starting to walk towards the pair. “No baby, you like ogling his ass.”

 

Freed sent another death glare.

 

Bickslow chuckled and grabbed Freed’s arm. “Come on Freed, let’s go get you prettied up.”

 

“I-I’ll see you later?” Freed asked, and he could see the smirk coming onto Laxus’ face, could guess that whatever the other boy was going to say was certain to leave him blushing.

 

“Yeah...Baby.” Laxus chuckled as he headed out the cafe doors and onto the main street, a hand raised above his head as a wordless goodbye.

 

Bickslow dragged the still blushing Freed through the back doors, ready to, as he put it, ‘pretty him up’, and even though he was embarrassed beyond relief, Freed could stop smiling.

 

Laxus was going to come by again later. 

 

Today was going to be a good day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> bickslow calls the cupcakes he makes on the daily his babies. he draws lil smiley faces on them and everything. it's a wonder he hasn't been fired yet.
> 
> also we're really proud of ourselves bc we almost made this chapter disgustingly dirty
> 
> also @freedthequeenjustine we inCLUDED IT


	3. Familiar Faces

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new terms brings forth a few expected things, and a lot of unexpected things.
> 
> Either way, Freed really needs a new alarm clock.

Freed disliked normal Mondays.

Normally, he’d have to get up an hour earlier to detour to Bickslow’s place, because the guy _never set his alarm_ when he was required to do an early shift, which was _every single Monday_.

Normally, it was the day that his boss hung around the Cafe, sitting at one of the available tables, scowling at papers and grumbling about takings, often taking time to glare at the pair that worked behind the counter to make sure they were doing their work.

Normally, as Freed had learned in the past few weeks that he’d been seeing the blonde, it was the only day of the week that Laxus didn’t come in.

Freed wouldn’t admit it to anyone else, except maybe Bickslow, but he and Laxus had grown rather close over the last few weeks, with Laxus coming into the Storm Brew Cafe most days, taking his time sipping the coffee that Freed always made him, talking to him and laughing with him in the free moments, always smiling at the greenette when he was busy.

When Freed wasn’t working, the two could normally be found together with linked hands, Freed with a blush high on his cheeks despite the warm weather, Laxus with a smile, the pair of them chatting about anything and everything. The pair often finding themselves cuddled up on a secluded hill, just a little out from the main area of town, Freed is Laxus’ jacket, Laxus’ arms around the smaller boy, both content with the closeness and the dimming light as the sun would set behind the clouds.

It was there they shared their first kiss.

For all the remarks that Laxus had made that had Freed blushing and trying to stutter through a reply, for all the flirting and insinuations, it was surprisingly sweet. Nothing more than lips on lips, a reassuring pressure with the faintest taste of the black coffee that Laxus drank and something slightly sweet yet unidentifiable and so _Laxus_ that Freed thought his heart might jump out of his chest. It was short. Simple. _Beautiful._

Freed didn’t stop smiling for days after it had happened.

In fact, he didn’t really stop being happy until this morning, groggy eyes going wide as he realized he’d slept in past his alarm.

Freed disliked normal Mondays, but if there was one thing he disliked more than a normal Monday, it was a _school day_ Monday.

Freed _hated_ school day Mondays.

Today happened to be the first one of the new term.

And he was already running late.

Freed grumbled as he hurriedly ran to his dresser and grabbed the pair of jeans and graphic tee he’d haphazardly thrown on it last night, quickly running a brush through his hair to make it at least semi-presentable, then began to make his way down the stairs while shoving it all back in a ponytail. Deciding to forgo breakfast, lest he not make it to his first class in time, he grabbed the backpack he packed last night and sprinted out the door.

He arrived at his school with less than 2 minutes to spare. His hair had come out of his ponytail somewhere along the way, green strands stuck to his forehead and cheeks. When he’d glanced at himself in the bathroom mirrors on the way to his locker, he nearly facepalmed at how dishevelled he looked. Freed Justine, top-grade student, was never this close-cutting for time, especially on the first day of the new school year.

Truthfully, Freed wasn’t a natural academic, despite what his classmates may think of him. He worked for the grades he got, studied all night. And with nothing better to do, why not? It wasn’t like he used to go out regularly. He wasn’t one of those kids that hung out behind the bikes sheds after school. No, something had happened during the holidays that even Freed’s careful planning could not have forewarned.

Laxus.

Ever since they’d met, he was always on his mind, whether it was the stormy grey clouds that reminded Freed of him, or the laugh that echoed through his mind all day. Freed had done next to no studying, his pen usually trailing off the page, instead choosing to sketch a certain blonde’s features from varying angles.

And God, the kiss.

_How could something so brief be something so goddam beautiful?_ Freed thought, scarcely avoiding the tiny first years flooding through the halls. The feeling of Laxus’s palm against his cheek, Freed cradling Laxus’s hand in his own. Freed was blushing all over again with the mere thought of the embrace they had shared, ducking his head into his locker and he grabbed out his jotter, notebook and textbooks.

Their last meeting was outside the Storm Brew the Saturday before school started. Laxus had been cut for time, so he’d just picked up a to-go black, as usual. He’d told Freed he’d be back on Thursday at six, and at the time, Freed was okay with that. It was only the next day that he realised that five days was a long ass time to be away from him. They talked over phone and text everyday anyway, with the occasional Skype whenever Freed’s internet decided to function like it should. On the brighter side, Freed had seven portraits of Laxus drawn by his own hand, which he kept in a drawer in his desk. He was still deciding whether to colour them or not.

Art was awkward, as all he did was stare at his paper blankly, barely refraining from drawing Laxus, standing watching waves crash onto a glistening shore. _Shit, I have to jot that down somewhere,_ Freed thought absently. _That’s good inspiration._ Instead, he stared at the boring fruit bowl he’d been forced to draw and paint at least fifty times every term. It was supposed to make you see how far you’ve come in your art skill, because you were made to compare it to your previous ones at the end of term. After three years of Art classes, Freed soon reached his ‘terminal velocity’ of still life drawing, and so his last three fruit bowls looked almost exactly the same, save the arrangement of said fruit in said bowl. All the others classes were similar, the ones he shared with Bickslow being the favoured ones (although whenever Freed spaced out, he would poke his shoulder until he got whacked with a textbook).

As he was heading out of the cafeteria to go to his locker for the last couple classes that day, Freed was praying that his day would get at least a little for exciting when he bumped into a familiar face.

“Oh, sorry, excu-” The girl in front of him stopped short, staring up at him with wide eyes shining with recognition. “Freed?!”

Freed broke out into a smile. “Evergreen!”

Evergreen let out a little squeal and crushed him with a hug. It took Freed all he had not to topple over backwards and piss off the janitor, who was currently mopping a stain around the water fountain.

When she finally released him from her clutches, Evergreen was as hyper as a five year old who’d just found the chocolate.

“I haven’t seen you in years! How have you been?” she asked brightly, a smile on her face.

Just before he had started high school, Evergreen had transferred across the country with her family, and they had eventually lost touch. Her, Freed and Bickslow were the closest three their old school had ever known. They did everything together, went everywhere together. It was rare to find one without at least one of the others.

“I’ve been great, better, even.” Freed hesitated, wondering whether he should tell her about Laxus. _Why am I even considering it? It’s not really official… he might not want it out?_ That seemed a good reason. “How are you here?"

“Well, my dad got another promotion, so we all moved back here. Which is brilliant because one, you guys were probably gonna be here - well, I wasn’t sure, but I was hopeful - and two, there’s a great theatre group near here, so it’s perfect, right?”

Evergreen was always into acting, and before she left, she was one of the best in her class, her rival being Erza Scarlet. Although the latter did get terrible stage fright sometimes, she was quite the enthusiastic one, and both of them put their all into their performances.

“Sounds like great fun.” Freed checked his watch. “Bickslow’s disappeared, but there’s about twenty minutes left of lunch. You wanna go for a walk?” Evergreen nodded.

Five minutes later, the pair were outside, strolling along the empty football field, catching up and whatnot. After a while, Bickslow reappeared, and the three sat on the astroturf, reminiscing and gossiping. As if Freed couldn’t get any happier, his English teacher lent him a new book she thought he’d like. It was exactly the kind of book he was into, so the whole period was spent with his nose in the pages, taking in the setting and observing the characters and their whereabouts.

He’d worked a couple hours at Storm Brew after school, then headed home, made pasta, and promptly fell into bed, exhausted yet satisfied with his first day back. Yet he couldn’t get himself to sleep - whenever he closed his eyes, another pair popped up, their warm irises making his heart beat just that little bit faster, like they always did.

At 11:34pm, his phone screen lit up, displaying a message.

_ <Sexy Stranger <3> cant sleep. u? :) _

_ <Me> me neither… :( _

_ <Sexy Stranger <3> this is all ur fault you know _

_ <Me> huh? i dont follow your logic _

_ <Sexy Stranger <3> u know how hard it is to sleep when all i can think of is u? ;) _

Even in darkness, Freed’s light blush was visible.

_ <Me> haha very funny x _

He hadn’t even noticed the ‘x’ he’d put until it was sent, biting his lip. Was it a bit forward?

_ <Sexy Stranger <3> im a funny guy, babe xx _

“B-babe?!” Freed said, out loud. He immediately scolded himself for being so loud, he might have woken the neighbours.

_ <Me> u certainly are :) _

_ <Sexy Stranger <3> Would u be waking any1 up by calling me? ;) _

_ <Me> no, just me… would u like me 2 call? x _

_ <Sexy Stranger <3> i wanna hear ur voice again. _

Freed took a deep breath. He wanted to hear Laxus’ voice again too, more than anything. He tapped the ‘Call’ icon next to his contact info and held it to his ear.

It hadn’t even rung once when it was answered. “That was quick,” Freed said, teasing him. Laxus’ laugh called to him through the phone, fluttering his nerves like it did every time. “I said I wanted to hear you, didn’t I?” Freed could hear his smile in his voice, bringing out his own. “I never thought _anyone_ would want to hear me _that_ badly.”

On the other side of the phone, Laxus frowned. “Well, you should. Your voice is beautiful.” Freed was silent. Laxus was about to check if he was still there when his voice crackled through the speaker. “I love you.”

Freed was biting on his lip so hard he thought he might break the skin. Was it too early? Was Laxus on the same page? Did he mess up?

Laxus breathed a smile through the speakers. “I love you too, Freed.”

Freed didn’t care that Laxus could probably hear his immense sigh of relief. “I wish you were here right now.”

“Me too, Freed, me too. I seriously have to try plaiting your hair at some point.”

Freed laughed at the image, then blushed at the thought of Laxus’ hands running through his hair. “Um - yeah, that’d be cool.”

“Cool? It’d be amazing. You’d look amazing afterwards too.”

Freed had to move the phone away so he could try and regroup his thoughts, which had been blown apart by Laxus’ goddam charm.

“I- thanks, I guess? For future compliments? I - uh… Goddamit Laxus.”

Laxus laughed heartily, warming Freed’s heart and increasing his love for the boy. “Shit, is it that late already?”

Freed glanced at his barely illuminated alarm clock. “Its 1am already? Lord,” Freed yawned loudly. “You’re keeping me up all night, you.”

“I can’t help the fact that you fantasise about me-”

“LAXUS!”

 

-

 

Freed woke up with his phone in his hand, the call still running (luckily, he had unlimited minutes). Out of curiosity, he lifted the speaker to his ear to hear Laxus’ soft snoring. Freed smiled and pressed the red button at the bottom of the screen. It was only when the call screen disappeared that he realised that he’d overslept. Again.

After going through his usual morning routine at double the pace, he headed out of his home, and through the streets to his school, ponytail bouncing along behind him.

He was nearly late to his first class - Physics - that morning, but at least he hadn’t forgotten his jotter. He found it both easier and harder to concentrate during class, with his late night conversation calming him and making him jumpy. He felt warm inside, and he found himself staring into space, earning more pokes from Bickslow. Evergreen wasn’t in his classes up to lunch, so the three sat together while they ate.

“So how’s your day, baby?” asked Bickslow to Evergreen, a half devoured sandwich in his mouth.

“Great so far, enjoyable classes, and reasonable teachers. No bitches I’ve spotted yet, which is good.”

Freed snorted. “You’re looking in the wrong places, then. There are loads of them in this school.”

Bickslow moved his head closer to the others’. “They hide in the sewer and steal children’s toys.”

The other two laughed. “That’s a bit sad,” said Evergreen, chuckling. She stopped abruptly when her gaze shifted to something behind Bickslow. Her eyes widened and she grabbed Freed’s arm.

“Hide me,” she screeched as she ducked under the table, clutching Freed’s leg like a lifeline. Freed let out a little yelp as her impossible fingernails dug into his shin, his eyes searching for the person causing Evergreen to want to hide her presence.

“Who you hiding from?” asked Bickslow, taking a sip of water. Evergreen shushed him. “Not so loud! He’ll find me.”

“What does he look like, at least? And can you loosen it up a little, I’m gonna start bleeding soon.” said Freed.

Evergreen loosen her grip on Freed’s leg a bit. “Uh. Tall guy. White hair. Huge muscles. Scar on the side of his face. Ringing any bells here?”

Freed and Bickslow both blinked. Looked at the man in question who was wandering around the cafeteria.

“Elfman?” They asked at the same time, their expressions confused.

“I don’t know his name! Just make sure he doesn’t see me.” Evergreen whispered, her grip on Freed’s leg tightening ever so slightly.

Freed sighed, shaking his leg a little so Evergreen would ease up her grip again. “Why are you hiding from him anyway? Despite his looks I know he isn’t the type to actually hurt people.”

Evergreen ducked her head, resting her face against Freed’s leg, and mumbled out a reply. Freed could have sworn he saw a hint of a blush high on his friend’s cheeks.

“What was that, baby? I couldn’t catch that cause ya got a mouthful of Freed’s pants.”

Evergreen took her head back - yep, that was _definitely_ a blush - and sat back for a moment, fingers moved lower to idly toy with the hem of Freed’s pants. She swallowed. Took a deep breath.

“I said, you have to hide me because IthinkhemaybeaskedmeoutandIthinkIaccidentallysaidyes.”

There was a pause as the two boys deciphered what their friend had said.

Then Bickslow burst out laughing. “What the hell do you mean he ‘maybe’ asked you out, baby?’”

Freed chuckled at the embarrassed look on Evergreen’s face. “And how did you manage to  ‘accidentally’ say yes?”

“I don’t know! I was in class just finishing off my notes, and then he was there, and he was talking, but I wasn’t really paying any attention to him, and then he kinda looked at me like he’d just asked a question, so I nodded, you know, I just to make him think I’d been listening.”

“And what he’d actually asked was if you wanted to go out?”

“I think so? I mean, he looked really excited and started suggesting places we could go, but I didn’t know what to do and I didn’t know how to tell him that I hadn’t heard him so I kinda panicked and...”

Freed raised an eyebrow. “And?”

Evergreen’s hands returned to their place on Freed’s shin, her tight grip returning - Freed swore he was going to be left with bruises - before the blush that was once only a hint on his friend’s cheeks now reaching the top of her ears. “I...Sorta...Maybe...Threw my pen at him...And screamed a little bit...And possibly ran away.”

Freed laughed. “You what?!”

Evergreen threw up hands up, the tops of her fingers banging against the underside of the table.

“I don’t know! I ran and this whole avoidance thing I was hoping I could pull off clearly isn’t working,” she let out a sigh, running her fingers through her hair, “please tell me he’s gone, my knees are starting to getting sore down here.”

It was Bickslow who responded, clearly amused by the situation their friend was in. “No can do baby. He’s approaching from 10 o’clock and he’s getting closer.”

“Oh God,” Evergreen groaned as she hid her face in her hands, Elfman drawing closer to their table, “I’m not here. You haven’t seen me. _I’m not here._ ”

“Got it.”

“Sure thing, baby.”

It was that moment that Elfman reached their table, a pen clutched in one of his hands. He looked between the two people seated at the table with a confused expression before zeroing in on spot on the table. Freed followed his eyes, before wishing Elfman wasn’t here so his could bash his head on the table.

_He saw Evergreen’s jacket then._

Deciding to try and distract the towering wall in front of him - lest he look down and notice the not so well hidden Evergreen - Freed pointed to Elfman’s hand. “Whose pen is that?”

Elfman snapped out of his reprieve, looked at Freed like he’s almost forgotten he was there. “Um. Uh. It’s Evergreen’s. You haven’t happened to see her by any chance?”

It was Bickslow who answered him. “Haven’t seen her today baby. Why do you want her anyway?”

Elfman raised an eyebrow at that. “But isn’t that her-”

_If he finishes that train of thought he’s going to know she’s close by._ With that in mind, Freed blurted out the first thing that he thought of. “It’s mine.”

There was silence between the three of them then, only filled with the background noise of the other students moving around the cafeteria to grab their own lunches, talking amongst themselves.

Elfman looked at him, then looked at the jacket in question - a regular black jacket that had been given to all the members of the girls soccer team, a jacket that spelt ‘Evergreen’ in white block letters on its back - then back to Freed. Looked at him some more. Like he was waiting for the pin to drop.

It was quiet between the three of them, all of them waiting for someone else to call Freed out on the blatant lie that had from his mouth. Freed wasn’t sure how long they all sat there (stood in Elfman’s case) taking each other, waiting for the inevitable. It could have been hours for all he knew.

It wasn’t until there was a bang that come from under the table that the three of them came out of their stupor.

Freed wasn’t really sure what happened, one minute he was sitting at their lunch table, trying to think of something, _anything_ , to say to make Elfman go away, the next he and Bickslow were being dragged by the wrist by Evergreen, running through the halls filled with students, dissolving into fits of laughter because _honestly, had they just done that?_

They only stopped running once they reach the football field on the other side of the school, one of the few places that was completely deprived of students, before promptly collapsing onto the grass, laughter racking their bodies as they all tried to speak.

It was Evergreen who recovered first, twisting her body round so she laid on her stomach, her head propped but by her hands, looking at the two boys. “Really, Freed? That’s all you could come up with? ‘It’s mine’? Anything else would have sent him away!’” She was still breathless, but her tone was light, and going by the wide grin on her face Freed knew she wasn’t upset at him, if anything she probably found the whole situation amusing.

Freed flipped over onto his stomach as well and out of the corner of his eye he saw Bickslow do the same, felt the grin rising up on his face as he replied. “It was the first thing I thought of!”

“And baby if you’d have seen his face-”

“But I did! That’s why I hit the table, I was trying not to laugh, and threw my head back to try and contain myself-”

Freed laughed. “And you failed. You’re the reason we had to run, you know.”

Bickslow lightly punched Freed’s arm. “She’s not the one who tried to claim that a jacket that was so obviously not theirs, baby,” he then looked at Evergreen, “you’re both idiots.”

He got a very undignified yell of protest from both of them.

Bickslow raised his hand, whether to get them to quiet down or as an apology Freed would never know. “Wouldn’t have you two any other way though, babies.”

All three of them smiled at this, and dissolved into a comfortable silence. At some point, they rolled over onto their backs and just watched the clouds, occasionally pointing one out or trying to decipher what they looked like. They didn’t know how long they’d laid there, content in each other’s presence. At some point the bell went off signalling the next class, but it seemed so distant and far away that Freed found himself hesitant to move. It seemed that the other two shared his sentiments because neither reacted at the sound. Sure, it may end up looking bad on his record, a top grade student like himself skipping class to lounge around on an empty football field, but Freed could only recall being this content with the people around him once before, and back then that was watching a sunset with the familiar weight of a fur coat on his shoulders.

Eventually, Freed knew he’d have to move. That the others would get stiff, or that some form of sports practice would start, or someone would come looking for them. But right now, he didn’t care.

At some point, he’d closed his eyes, but he could feel the warmth from the other two, so he didn’t really mind losing himself, as long as they were there. He was so deep in thought, so relaxed that he didn’t realise another person had joined them until they spoke.

“Evergreen, what have I told you about hanging onto your- Freed?”

Freed opened his eyes, squinted at the figure that was standing tall above them. While his eyes adjusted to the light, he could barely make out an outline of a jacket enclosed in one fist - Evergreen’s, he assumed - and that familiar hairstyle that he found himself so often wanting to run his fingers through…

_Wait. No. It couldn’t be._

“L-Laxus?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't forgot to go love my lovely co author xchaotica on tumblr bc honestly she writes so well it makes me want to cry

**Author's Note:**

> come harass us both on tumblr bc we're fucking fraxus trASH 
> 
> i'm darkmagicianknight i don't know how to link things goddamn


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